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malkin

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A dirty, slovenly, or untidy woman; a slattern; also dialectally refers to a hare, cat, or scarecrow, derived from diminutive forms of Matilda or Mary.

Detailed Definition
“Malkin” appears in Macbeth as a witch’s familiar, evoking domestic uncanny. In poetry, it connotes slovenliness or folkloric mystery. The term’s archaic flavor enhances Gothic or rustic tone. Poets use it to inject eerie femininity into supernatural scenes, where the mundane becomes ominous in liminal spaces like barns or hearths.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The malkin swept the hearth at dawn,” in a rustic lyric; In Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Graymalkin” as a witch’s cat—“malkin” being a diminutive; “Her name was Malkin, simple and kind”; “The malkin’s song was the kettle’s hum”; “Malkin or queen, all women dream”; The scarecrow malkin guarded the cornfield.
Additional Notes
“Malkin” overlaps with “grimalkin” but emphasizes slovenliness; in rustic or misogynistic verse, it degrades women as untidy or animal-like, reflecting period anxieties about domestic disorder.
Also Known As
cat mop slattern
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